Oracle Corporation is a global technology giant. From its early beginnings with a core focus on databases, the rapid growth and acquisitions over the past thirty years mean it now offers hardware and software solutions for every aspect of its clients’ business. An exceptional proof point of its success is the fact that every single one of the Fortune 100 runs some form of Oracle technology.
Strategy
Oracle is the industry benchmark for database software, and whilst it holds many leadership positions in its other software markets, the challenge has become ensuring that Oracle line-of-business solutions are just as well regarded in terms of market innovation and leadership.
The campaigns for its Supply Chain Management (SCM) business, aimed to generate UK sales of SCM solutions to both existing Oracle customers and net-new accounts.
The campaigns sought to align sales and marketing in a nurturing programme, combining the strengths of sales (deep close relationships with customers); with those of marketing, by taking a cross-account view with the ability to offer an enlarged ‘footprint’ for sales – through content, events and insight that are relevant to target business contacts, tailored based on their behaviour and past intelligence.
Objectives
Focusing on 150 priority accounts (but continuing to communicate to the wider Supply Chain community), the targets were:
Definitions:
Target audience
The SCM solutions are big strategic investments, which can radically change a company’s approach to sourcing and logistics. The audience is therefore complex, combining both tactical mangers within operations and logistics, but also strategic executives within supply chain, finance and in some instances IT.
The other major challenge of selling SCM solutions is the long sales cycle – sometimes two or more years – and the need to secure high-level buy in. It is crucial to clearly explain the benefits of such a significant investment of resources and effort. This programme was therefore aimed at both influencers and decision-makers with a clear message that resonated at both levels.
Media, timescales and budgets
The Marketing Practice (TMP) devised a year-long nurture programme to ensure that target accounts received several communications, each with a different focus and message, but clearly within the same campaign (in terms of both appearance and content).
The first step was to identify target accounts and build a robust contact database. To ensure this was comprehensive, TMP worked closely with Oracle’s sales and marketing teams. This stage was repeated regularly, to refresh the target list with updated intelligence.
Activities included:
- Webinar – organising prominent industry keynote speakers and Oracle experts, followed up by TMP calling attendees and no-shows
- Live event – target contacts invited to attend the event and followed-up afterwards to progress to opportunity status. Event discussion also written-up and used with the wider community
- Direct mail ‘blotter’ – A3 double-sided road-map to a smarter supply chain. Used as both a DM campaign tool and also for sales to use in face-to-face meetings.
- Extended Supply Chain – managed Oracle’s sponsorship package for this 3rd party event, utilising the VIP passes for identified prospects, followed up with attendees who went to Oracle workshops (and using a summary output from the workshops to contact people who were unable to attend the workshops)
- Private dinner – also arranged a private dinner for Oracle around the Extended Supply Chain event, to meet other relevant delegates
- Interactive online Christmas cards – highlighting the events calendar for the coming year
- Line of business campaigns – these took a specific challenge and proposition to relevant groups of people within the target accounts such as ‘New Product Innovation’ or ‘Transportation Management’ integrating direct mail, emails and calling
- Corporate content – utilised materials being produced by Oracle to push out to the community thus supporting a cost effective approach to the campaign
Each touch-point was supported by telephone nurturing by TMP. The caller was highly integrated with Oracle’s sales team, providing and receiving prospect intelligence on weekly calls, and often daily interactions with account managers (who now have the confidence that nothing will fall through the net of the nurturing programme).
Timescales The campaign took place June 2009 to May 2010
Results
Successes include:
- 14 clear opportunities in the sales pipeline
- 27 leads passed to sales for meetings and follow-up (will either convert to opportunities or be returned to nurturing activity)
- 50 other leads remaining in the nurture pot for ongoing activity until ready for sales
This is 38 per cent of the starting pool of 240 accounts, and the programme continues to run into 2011.
The sales pipeline resulting from the campaign is $2.6 million, a ROMI of some 65:1.
Client testimonial
“This campaign combined solid creativity with sustained engagement that was crucial to keeping Oracle SCM front of mind over the long sales process. This is a great example of real-world B2B nurture marketing that ultimately produces strong sales leads and demonstrable ROI. This campaign was a success thanks to The Marketing Practice’s creativity and understanding of not just a complex product set but also the motivations and pain-points of a very distinct audience.” Emma Greene, marketing director, ERP Applications, Oracle
